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Monthly Archives: March 2012

DEADLINE: Send all pictures to me at contests@sound-bender-world.com, by May 15th.

This contest is a bit easier than the last one, but still a challenge.

The rules of the Record Rush are simple: we post a picture of a strange record with a category, and then it is your job to find one like it. Once you have secured such a record, send us photo proof of your find to win prizes. Here’s an example:

Category: Eye Patch

Skill Level: EXPERT

Your Mission: Find a record cover with a man or a woman wearing an eye patch.

Prizes: (1) A unique and one of a kind blue audograph disc recorded especially for you. Signed hardcover copy of Sound Bender 1, plus an early copy of Sound Bender 2. Sound Bender T-Shirt.

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Clear? You don’t have to find this exact record, just one with an eye patch!

Now you might be thinking, where would I find such a record? You can find all of these records for no more than $2 at places such as: swap meats, flea markets, rummage sales, record stores, book stores, garage sales, church sales, thrift stores, old radio stations, antique malls, the dump. Records are everywhere! You just have to look.

Now this might seem like a lot of time to spend, but those are all fun places to go. And when you go to places like flea markets and old book stores, you might find adventure. You’ll at least find something totally unexpected. Gotta be better than staying in the house, right?

DEADLINE: Send all pictures to me at contests@sound-bender-world.com, by May 15th.

All right, ready? Oh, and by the way, the EYE PATCH challenge is real. So get looking with both eyes.

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Category: Stock Photo Covers

Skill Level: BEGINNER

Your Mission: Find a record with a stock photography cover.

Background: Way back in the day, before you could post your music on youtube or wherever it’s cool now, you had to have a record contract in order to put your music out there. Or did you? For those musicians who were either rejected by the major record labels, or just didn’t want to try, there were dozens of dozens of places that would press a custom record for you. You took them a tape of your tunes, they gave you a few options for the cover and asked you how many copies you wanted, you paid them some $$$, and they gave you your very own record. Sort of like those places in the mall where you can make your own music videos — do they still even have those?!

So the deal was, they only had a few cover options for you to chose from. They were generally these really boring pictures of forests or rivers mountains, or the country side, or rainbows and so on. Then you would get to put your own title on it. Here’s an example of one stock photo cover, but nine different records:

So how will I know if/when I find one? You’ll know. If the cover has a picture of a generic landscape with a band you’ve never heard of, you’ve found it. Collect em all.

Stock covers are pretty easy to find. There’s at least one in every thrift store in the country. You just gotta get out of your room!

Prizes: 2 Sound Bender pins. 1 mini artifact to be determined…

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Category: Barking Dog Records

Skill Level: INTERMEDIATE

Your Mission: Find a barking dog record.

Background: People are a little paranoid. Back in the day, before alarm systems, people would buy these records that had nothing but the sounds of a giant dog barking angrily? Why? They thought it might deter people from breaking into their house. Who knows if they ever worked. But lots of people sure bought barking dog records.

There were tons and tons of different barking dog records. Find one, like Sebastian here:

SO, this site has been dormant for a bit — we were writing book 2 in the Sound Bender Saga — but we’re back.

We’re going to let the alien voice contest extend until April 1st — because although Sound Bender came out last November — it only came out in the book clubs last month or so (right?). So we’re giving you more time to submit your best, and we’ll post the top five on April 1st.